Near's Notes
by xXDarkAngelLoveXx
Summary: It would never work Roger. You know I don't get along with Near." The sincerity in his voice blazed against my skin, just like the sun.. " We've always competed against each other........always....." REVIEW PLEASE.
1. Chapter 1

The simple fact that you are reading these notes, means that you can be almost ninety-eight percent certain that I am no longer alive. In the event of

my death, these notes are to be passed on to my successors. No exceptions. I do hope that you do not expect these notes to be publishable

material,because I am a detective, not an author.... Ah, but where are my manners? My name is......yes....I think that given the circumstances, to

mention my name should be acceptable. I am called Nate River, but most know me, simply, as Near. Successor to the century's greatest detective

known as L. I must say, that i never expected to become the successor one day. I was one of many children assembled form the four corners of the

world, and placed in one of many orphanages designed

to create, a second L. For security reasons of course, I will not let slip the whereabouts of this establishment, officially called "Watari's Institute for

gifted Children". We knew it as Wammy's house, But i assure you that nothing in that statement will help you. We were nothing but prototypes,

designed to fail, in fact, it was expected of us. We were backups. no..........it

was more like we were the backups for the backups. Our task was to support L in ways, other than filling out complicated paper work and directing funds in

circles around the globe so that it couldn't be tracked back to us. No. Those tasks were for the children, smarter than the average man of course,but that

did not excel. However smart, these children did not possess the deductive skill necessary to make it through to the next level, where we were. We

knew. them as the inferiors. Harsh? Why would u say so? In the Wammy's house, that was all that mattered, Intelligence and skill. Those who did not

posses enough of these qualities were sent away. But I'm straying of topic here aren't I? My apologies, but in all fairness I do recall warning you that .

these notes are just that, notes, written by me on a spur of the moment. I figured those who came after me needed some kind of script or letter form

me documenting my journy. Returning to the subject. Our task at the Wammy's house was to be L's support beam. In other words, we were

instructed to solve cases to difficult for the common man, but not yet worthy enough for L's time.......or maybe they were, and L just found little or no

interest in them. he always operated like that, L. He would only solve cases that he had a personal interest in, witch is why we were needed in the first

place. Someone wanting to figure out L's true identity would have little to go on besides the cases that he solved. Lets say this person is a fairly

intuitive individual. If he went over the cases closely enough, if he looked hard enough, he would find a very distinct pattern entwined there. This

would give key insight to the kind of person that L really was. Unacceptable, since there were very few people in the world quite like L. So exist we

did. Working from the Wammy's house, we solved cases form all over the world under a false L's flag. We spoke through a computer to replicate the

synthetic voice that L used. But all that still wasn't enough. since L was such an odd individual, we had to do more than speak like L, we had to think,

eat and even sit like him too. We were given sweets in the hopes that it would some how influence our minds to act a little more like him. We were

told to sit like him in the hopes that it would channel our thoughts the way his were. But after many problems with this program, Watari concluded

that these positions and actons were sutible only to L, and that to try forcing them on his possible successors.....no, pupils at that time, would be

wasted effort. Instead he told us to pick something that would help us relax, a position, an object or an action. Something that was second hand

nature to us. Something that we could do without thinking about it. Some of us chose positions,like sitting with their legs tucked under them. Others

chose actions. And others still, objects. Like video games, chocolate, and toys.... And the outcome was successful. we improved on such a vast scale

that two of us were even considered to be actual successors to L.................. but.......... I'm skipping ahead aren't I? I suppose I need to begin, at the

beginning.


	2. Chapter 2

"What was that?....Roger, what did you just say?!"

Mello...emotional as always..........

The morbid voice came as a response. " I'm afraid L is dead"

That was to be expected. L always took risks that perhaps, were not worth taking. Going to Kira in person and proclaiming his identity. What did Mello

expect? 221,222 The puzzle nearly half complete now... though I'm not making good time...

"Hes dead? But....but how?...........was it Kira?"

"....hmm"

"Come on Roger you've got to tell me! did Kira kill him?"

373, 374, 375 Three quarters done...

"But he promised me......... he promised he'd come back!"

The scene changed to an imperfect vision. I felt numb, as if this were a dream. A woman, sitting in a chair with an infant suckling at her breast, a

discomforted but sympathetic look on her face. Nodding her head in a way that seemed to be willing the scene to shift to across the room. And shift it

did. A man, standing an a light flooded doorway. Light streaming through. His body engulfed in shadows. I found myself with an uncomfortable

sensation. As if the light were some how hurting me. I winced away from it. But it was More than that. It was not just the light.........

"I promise Nate." It called "Ill come back."

434, 435 Only a few pieces left.

A voice, distant at the time.. but all to familiar to my ears, shattered the vision into glass. Broken pieces of shard fell onto a faded crimson carpet. The

scene replace with another.

The voice spoke again. Louder this time.

"But he promised me he'd catch Kira and execute him....and now... your telling me that hes been killed?

500. puzzle finished.... one minute and twenty-three seconds...awful time. I held the bored over my head and shook the pieces loose from the

frame. They fell to the floor before my closed lids, much like the glass, but i did not look. I didn't want to be reminded of the glass, the vision, or of

_....him_.

Yes... L was a fool, and he failed.

I heard the last of the pieces fall to the floor, and my lids dared to retract.

" If you cant win the game..... If you cant solve the puzzle... then you just a loser.." my voice spoke. Cold and distant.

The game started again, I moved faster this time. 1, 2, 3........

I looked up for the first time in the conversation. The walls that shielded me form the sun painted a bright yellow colour.... Irony.... A single desk stood at

the back of the room. dull and brown. Behind it sat an aged man, with wrinkles edged deep into his flesh. A pained expression on his face, much like

the nursing woman. Behind him, bookshelves, stacked with books that........ No, its not worth contemplating the books on the shelves. Not when I am

forgetting the highlight of this situation. A blond boy was gazing at me then, obvious rage and pain on his face. he turned back to the aged man.

" So, witch of us did L pick. Me or Near?"

36, 37, 38....

The aged man sunk his head into his propped up hands, and closed his eyes. I wondered how he could sit like that....

" He hadn't decided yet, and now that he is gone I'm afraid he wont be able to..,"

155, 156,1 57 More pieces fell into place. The blond boy gave a sigh, at a loss for words. The aged man used this opportunity to talk

" Mello, listen... you too Near, Cant the two of you work together?"

The Blond boy gave another sigh, this one more pained than the first.

200, 201...

I could feel his expression on me, burning through my skin Just like the sun. Horrified, wild.

" All right, sounds good." I said though I don't know why I did. There was a very slim chance that he would agree at that point. In fact I would say

there was no chance at all...

"It will never work Roger. We _cant_ do this together. You know I_ don't _get along with near."

His voice trembled as he spoke. It was almost like he was...scared...almost.

256, 257, 258, 259....

He paused.

"We've always competed against each other, always."

No one spoke for a wile after that. The only sound I could hear was the cool December wind fighting to get through the closed window where we were

inside. It failed, just like him. Enraged, defeted, it gave a howling sound and faded away, taking with it the last helpless leaf of summer. a late winter

was on its way.

450, 451......

The blond spoke again.

"You know what? Its fine."

The aged man looked up.

"Near should be the one to succeed L. He's not like me, he never gets emotional, he just uses his head, like its a game or a puzzle."

500... one minute and eight seconds. Better...........

" And as for me, I'm leaving this_ institution_."

Mello turned around and started walking towards the the door.

The aged man got up suddenly, a movement he was not used to. a very faint cracking registered in my ear drums.

"Wait, Mello!" he called. His voice riddled with worry.

"Don't waste you breath, im almost 15 years old." He crossed the over to the other room.

"Its time i start living my _own _life."

With a creak, the door closed.. and that was the last time I ever saw Mello for a long, long time.

Mello..........emotional as always.......

_______________________

**please review. I nead third party opinions**


	3. Chapter 3

You may not think that what Ive just told you has any significant meaning, but its quite the contrary. When Mello uttered those words,

" he promised me he'd come back" , he unknowingly and unwillingly opened a flood gate of memories that should have stayed locked away in the

recesses of my mind. But at this point they were there, fuzzy, unclear, but there. And there was no turning back. By now I was far to deep in thought

to be paying attention to the world around me, this was something that we were taught never to do. Because outside the safety of the Wammys

house, this could mean the death of us. Outside......where Mello was going. In the far corners of my Imagination I wished that he would

remember............

Finally, the aged man sat back down. And picked up the receiver.

"You are free to go now Near." he mumbled out of the corner of his mouth.

This snapped me out of thought. For now I faced a long and exausting walk back to my room, down the hall........all the way down the hall.

Walking is something I try to avoid at all costs. Getting out of my seating position "clogs the pipes" shall we say. I've adopted L's position so well that

when I'm out of it, my deductive skills, memory, and IQ over all fall by a substantial number. I feel like a zombie, blinded, numb. I carefully tucked the

puzzle under my arm, and turned around (still sitting). I spread my free hand out on the faded crimson carpet, and pulled my leg from under me. By

now I already felt a little stupid. I flexed my fingers...and pushed. All thought suddenly left me, drained away. I had to put all my energy into placing

one in front of the other, and the next one, and the next one. I wondered if this was how ordinary people felt all the time. I couldn't imagine it, not

only because it was so foreign to me, my mind was literally in-capable of deep thought at that point.

Left, right, left, right, left......

I crossed over to the hallway, and closed the door behind me, The exact same action Mello had done just moments earlier, at far, slower a rate.

I cluched at the silver line of metal that ran all the way down the hall, intended to be used by me alone. Now that some of the weight shifted to my

arm, I could hunch my back over slightly. This helped. My mind now had room for other thought, and my thoughts were on _him_...... These

These uncomfortable thoughts half made me want to let go of the railing, but only half.

Left, right, left

Almost there now, a few more meters......

Why did he leave? No, I know why he left. But why didn't he come back? He promised.........

Left, right, left

You promised me......

I wanted to be angry, But.....there was no room.

Finally, the safety of my room was just a door nob away. In fact, it wasn't even that hard.......I vaguely remembered L telling me that before the

previous owner left, he locked the door from the inside. I didn't dear wonder why he did that.

With my last bit of strength, I pushed at the wood of the door, like always, it creaked open. I stumbled forward, into the darkness. And, like always, I.

Hit the floor with a _thud_, a shattering sound followed as the puzzle landed next to me. A strong sent of mold came on to me, but i was not

startled, for this was normal. Thought was returning to me now. I remembered the first time that I entered the my room, and the overwhelming sent

that came on to me then. not mold but.......strawberries. I sniffed again, and, sure enough, there was still a vague sent of strawberries there. Barley

recognizable, buried under the new sent. But don't misunderstand me. Those thoughts were just a distraction. Something to divert me from what

my mind _wanted _to remember. I quickly re assumed my seating position. A miracle. All thought returned so fast, It dazed me. I blinked, and looked

around. Darkness. I was glad........There was however, a light in the room. the only thing penetrating the darkness. I looked around. The light was

entering via the hole in the door where the nob used to be... silhouettes of toys, stacked in piles couldn't hide from its torturous gaze.I cursed it in the

back of my head. I realized that I was exausted. And now I had another walk to the single bead at the back of the room. once more i lifted myself up,

with both hands this time.

Right, left, right

my eyes still hadn't adjusted to the darkness, I missed a step a few paces from the bed, and fell flat on my stomach. Of course thought had gone from

me at this point. I looked up and......(this time i was shocked) the sent overwhelmed me. it was stronger this time. much much stronger.

my eyes, now getting accustomed to the darkness scanned the area in front of me. Under the bed.............nothing out of the ordinary.....a few legos

and toys here or there......but nothing to cause......wait....... A stray beam of light hit someting. A shiny surface, but at the same time, red. Red under

neath shininess. What? My mind surfed through the possibilities. A misplaced toy perhaps. No, I knew all my toys well. Not a toy. My limited mind

started to ache. Best to just reach for it. I reached.......something cold and hard. A cold, hard, red, shiny, thing that smelled. I pulled it out. A cold

hard red shiny thing that smelled of mold and.....something else. it was a jar, filled with something red...... blood? No, not blood. I sat. Ideas fell into

place. Strawberries. I sniffed again. yes...... it did smell slightly of strawberries. I placed my hand on the lid. It felt funny.....dust, there was a lot of

dust..... yes it was dusty but........something else......engraved? I pulled, with surprising ease it opened. The stench was almost unbearable. I shut it

fast.

Moldy, rotting, strawberry jam...........

But the lid. I felt it again. yes.....yes there was something engraved...............

Words...... I wiped off the dust and held the jar up to the light. The jam was hard, it did not move when I tilted the jar.

I manoeuvred my head in such a way that didn't call for me to place any part of me in the light to see.

Scratched out letters on the jar read

"_If only I could see the death of the world _"

What? It didn't make sense at the time. Because no one should be able to see the death of the world. How could I have known?

I sighed once. But wait.....something else, at the bottom? I turned the jar around towards the light. There, stood two, large, bold initials written in

Old English:

**B B **

_________________

**please review even if u hate it. I appreciate constructive criticism. thanks**


	4. Chapter 4

I did not usually hate dreaming. It didn't usually matter to me either way. Although I did feel numb, I could always tell when I was dreaming. So long

as I kept that position, I could always separate my dreams, from reality. Witch meant that my train of thought never had to end. It was true that I

couldn't move (sleep paralysis took care of that) but it didn't matter, as long as i could still control myself. But that night, I lost all control.

The dream started like any other. Meaning less shapes and colours, with a face or two thrown in. More shapes, triangles, rectangles, rectangles,

rectangles? What? I tried to imagine squares. Yes, squares.......And the squares came, but inside the rectangles.......This shouldn't be happening.

The rectangles were getting bigger, bigger and more intricate. Details started to appear inside the rectangles and squares. I recognized the shape at

once, buildings? And now the buildings were getting closer, closer, bigger, bigger. And around the buildings there started to form new shapes. Irregular

shapes. Big and small irregular shapes. And around these shapes, colour started to fill in. A mixture of colour. Orange and pink with a little purple.

The sky? A sunset sky. The buildings were still getting bigger. And on the roof tops was a figure, Shaded in black and grey. But it wasn't _him. _I do not

know how i knew that, it just wasn't. It was wrong, the figure. It didn't look right. Too tall, far to tall to be a human. I tried to wake, I wanted so badly to

wake. This scared me. Not the figure or the approaching buildings, but not being in control. But the dreamer wouldn't let me wake. The dreamer had

other plans. The buildings got closer and closer. The figure got larger and larger. Larger and more detailed. And i could see it now. No, it wasn't

human, with its large grey head, and skinny midriff. And I could see now why it was so tall. it hovered over the ground with the two large black wings

on its feathered back. Not human..... what was it? But the dreamer didn't give me time to think, he continued on, faster now. I wanted to wake, I had

enough of this. Then the dreamer did something I wasn't expecting, he hovered right down to the rooftop of the figure. But this was wrong, I couldn't

feel the ground, i couldent feel anything. I didn't want to look. I didn't want to see the figure. Sudden fear engulfed me.

want to see the figure. But the dreamer gave me no option. My head unwillingly turned and faced the figure. A broad smile was the first thing I saw, a

broad smile and......those eyes. The figure looked at me as thought it already new everything about me. Those eyes.......

But the figure and I were not alone....... A boy, standing on the roof top directly in front of the figure. I was shocked to see him there..... I was so out

of controle, I couldent even see what was right infront of me......

The boy didn't seem to notice me standing there. His long-ish brunette hair covered his ears. Dressed in a brown school uniform and holding what

looked like...... an apple? He tossed it back to the figure without looking, his eyes fixated downward. The figure devoured it happily.... or at least,

I thought it was happy. It always wore a smile....

But the boys gaze remained downward, looking off the rooftop, towards the blackness beneath.

the dreamer's gaze followed his, but before it reached its destination, I caught a glimpse of something, something black in the boys hand.

A note book.

The dreamer did not stop until his eyes were fixated on what the boy seemed to be looking at........ something falling through the blackness.

A man. With naturally black hair.

L

Without warning, the dreamer lunged after him, and now I was falling. Faster, faster, faster. The figure gave one cold, throaty chuckle.

I was horrified, but the dreamer didnt seem to notice. He kept chasing, ruthlessly, relentlessly, until L was close enough to touch. He was falling

with his back to us. We did not see his face until it was far too late. The dreamer reached for him and....

Strawberries..........

The overwhelming sent of Strawberries.

The man turned. No......NO!

Fear, panic, and.......those eyes..... This was not L. This was far to vile a creature to be L.

His face was wrong, mis-shaped.

Strawberries....... he smelled.....of strawberries

He smiled, but like his face, it was wrong. Murderous, demonic.

I could feel panic, but it was not my own. The dreamer was panicking. The dreamer wanted to get away. He tried to get away, but......

Something......stopping us... holding on to us.

The dreamer looked down. This.....creature was holding us, refusing to let go.....

Fear turned to all out terror. Panic turned to mind blowing confusion.

He was dragging us..... down, down, down to the blackness beneath.

stop.............stop..........STOP!!!

I woke with a start. Light penetrated the beige curtain with no problem. The room was well lit. My room. Toys lined the floor so thick that the carpet

was rarely seen. Definitely my room. The sound of muffled voices coming from outside.

" Mello _please! _Think this through."

" Ive made my decision, don't try to stop me."

I dared to peek through the window. The sun was bright, I winced. Big black spots formed in front of my eyes. I rubbed them and tried again.

My eyes cleared up just in time to catch a flurry of gold enter a large black Sudan. Matt was standing on the other side. Just about to get in as well.

"Oh Matt, Please! I'm _begging_ you."

"No can' do coach" was all he said before entering. And without further ado, the car drove off, leaving a trail of dust and exhaust in its wake.

I let the curtain fall, and looking down, I noticed something.

I was still holding the jar of smelly, mouldy, rotting strawberry jam in my hand.

And the perfect Old English initials were staring right back at me.

**BB**

____________________

**I'd like to thank the following :**

**devilangel13**

**Bleeding-Strawberry-Jam**

**EowynsPen **

**for their reviews. They encouraged and helped me alot**

**thx  
**


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